Free agency in the NHL opens today at noon, and there is just as much intrigue about other potential developments as there is about where this year’s crop of unrestricted free agents will land.

What will the ramifications of Sidney Crosby’s extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins be? Will teams that lose out on top free-agent forward Zach Parise react by completing a trade for Rick Nash or Bobby Ryan?

The surrounding issues are indicative of what is seen as a weak group of free agents, but that does not mean that there won’t be good players to be found on the open market. Rather than predict where each player will go, a futile exercise if there ever was one, here is a look at where the top free agents should be looking to sign, finding situations that would benefit both the players and the teams.

1. Zach Parise

The top free agent on the market will have his choice of lucrative deals, so it is really about finding the right landing spot. While Parise went to the Stanley Cup finals with New Jersey this spring, how many more times might he play for the championship if he goes to Pittsburgh? The thought of Parise on a line with Crosby, followed by an Evgeni Malkin-James Neal line, is almost too good to pass up.

2. Ryan Suter

When Nashville signed goaltender Pekka Rinne to a seven-year extension, Predators owner Tom Cigarran talked about getting deals done with all three of his stars, trying to keep Suter and Shea Weber protecting Rinne’s net for years to come. If the Predators could do that, they would be able to continue the progress they made this season, when they weren't just a playoff team, but one taken seriously around the NHL. It would be interesting to see what Nashville could do with the trio remaining in place, but if Suter does leave, his best option would be Detroit, even with the added pressure of basically replacing the irreplaceable Nicklas Lidstrom.

3. Jaromir Jagr

Back in the NHL after three years playing in the KHL in Russia, Jagr showed that he can still get the job done, as he was the Flyers’ third-leading scorer and made an impact on Philadelphia’s young players with his work ethic. The 40-year-old could do something similar in Montreal, which has a solid base of emerging talent, and would be a perfect city for the worldly winger.

4. Martin Brodeur

In an unexpected turn partially based on Parise and the Devils' financial uncertainty, Brodeur will test the market. It's impossible to imagine him in anything other than red and black, but the Blackhawks, Lightning and Panthers are potential options.

5. Teemu Selanne

If Selanne, a future Hall of Famer himself, continues his career, it will only be as a Duck.

6. Matt Carle

There is no expectation that the 27-year-old defenseman will leave Philadelphia, nor should there be, as he has developed into a 23-minute-a-game force on the blue line for a team that is ready, willing and able to keep him on board.

7. Jason Garrison

The once-undrafted defenseman picked the right time to have a breakout year with the Florida Panthers, scoring 16 goals—including nine on the power play—with 17 assists. At the age of 27, Garrison could be the perfect man to fill the role that Tomas Kaberle and Joe Corvo have failed to seize the past two seasons as the non-Zdeno Chara point man on the power play.

8. Ray Whitney

The 24 goals and 53 assists that Whitney posted in Phoenix matched the totals he had in 2008-09 with the Hurricanes, and at the age of 40, a Carolina reunion would make a lot of sense, allowing Whitney to provide both production and tutelage to another undersized net-filler who is half his age, Jeff Skinner.

9. Alexander Semin

After dropping from 40 goals in 2009-10 to 21 in 2011-12, it is time for a change of scenery for the 28-year-old winger, and he would be best served by playing for the coach with whom he had the most success, Bruce Boudreau, and a good group of veteran forwards in Anaheim. While playing for John Tortorella would not appear to be a good fit, Semin would be a smart signing for the Rangers, who need offensive help while Marian Gaborik recovers from shoulder surgery, and could trade a reasonably-priced Semin if it’s not working out by the time Gaborik returns.

10. Dustin Penner

There’s no reason for the Kings to break up the top two lines of a Stanley Cup team, and no reason for Penner to want to leave a franchise that has become a great fit for him after a trade that initially appeared to be a disaster. Los Angeles won’t find a better player on the market for the money, and Penner won’t find a better place to play.

11. Jiri Hudler

Coming off a season in which he scored a career-high 25 goals, while earning a career-best 15:40 per game in ice time, the 28-year-old center should remain in Detroit as part of the Red Wings’ core for years to come.

12. P.A. Parenteau

After he did an excellent job alongside two elite offensive talents in John Tavares and Matt Moulson, the ideal situation for Parenteau would be in a similar role as a playmaking winger, much like the role Justin Williams served alongside Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown for the Cup-winning Kings. How about riding on the wing for Pavel Datsyuk? He’d be an upgrade over the aging Todd Bertuzzi.

13. Olli Jokinen

The well-traveled Finnish center has had an up-and-down career, and appeared to get back on the upswing with 23 goals and 38 assists this past season in Calgary, for his highest point total since he had 71 with the 2007-08 Florida Panthers. At the age of 33, a long-term deal would be risky, but it could be worth taking for one of Jokinen’s former teams, the New York Islanders, who could then shift Frans Nielsen to a more comfortable third-line role.

14. Carlo Colaiacovo

Colaiacovo has never played more than 73 games in a season, and has missed a total of 50 over the past three seasons, so a team with a measure of defensive depth would be ideal, as the 29-year-old can be a solid contributor when healthy, but his health is often a question. The Phoenix Coyotes, with Keith Yandle, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and recently-acquired Zbynek Michalek, would be ideal.

15. Shane Doan

There might not be many possibilities more intriguing than Doan returning to where his career began, Winnipeg, after failing to come to terms on a new deal with the Phoenix Coyotes, where he has played since his second NHL season—when the original Jets moved south. With the relaunched Jets, Doan would be an ideal veteran addition, and the 35-year-old winger has a streak of nine straight 50-point seasons that makes him as appealing on the ice as in the room.

16. Filip Kuba

After helping Erik Karlsson put up the numbers that won him the Norris Trophy in Ottawa, it would be interesting to see Kuba try to provide similar veteran stability and creativity alongside another young, offensively talented defenseman in Chicago’s Nick Leddy. Kuba’s prowess on the power play also would be helpful to a Blackhawks team that was 26th in the NHL on the man advantage despite dazzling talent up front.

17. Sami Salo

Squeezed out of Vancouver at the age of 37, and having not played 70 games in any season since the lockout, Salo remains a solid power-play performer when available, and still is capable of playing a solid 20 minutes a game. He could be well served by a move to Tampa Bay, which was 25th in the NHL with the man advantage this past season, and could use some defensive help.

18. Andrei Kostitsyn

Kostitsyn can be a top-six forward in the right situation, and the right situation for the 27-year-old Belarussian winger could be in Minnesota, where his 36 points this past season would have tied Devin Setoguchi for fourth-most on the Wild.

19. Ryan Smyth

If Smyth passed up the chance to play with the Kings last summer—and remember, Los Angeles was building what was widely expected to be a Stanley Cup contender before struggling through the regular season and putting things together in that “surprise” title run—what’s going to keep him from staying in Edmonton once again?

20. Brandon Prust

Beyond what he does as a checking winger and fighter, Prust emerged as a strong penalty killer during his time with the Rangers. That makes him an ideal candidate to sign with the Maple Leafs, who were 28th in the NHL on the PK this season, with their top shorthanded forwards being David Steckel, a quality faceoff man, and either Philippe Dupuis or Joey Crabb.

21. Kyle Wellwood

On his third team in as many seasons, Wellwood notched a career-high 47 points with the Jets in 2011-12, and the 29-year-old center should stay in Winnipeg, where he has started to finally unlock his potential.

22. Alexei Ponikarovsky

Ponikarovsky ideally serves as a third liner, but is capable of jumping up to provide grit and forechecking ability as a top-six winger. A return to New Jersey, where Ponikarovsky scored seven goals in 33 games after a midseason trade from Carolina, would allow him to continue showcasing his versatility.

23. Bryce Salvador

After scoring four goals in the playoffs—as many as he had in the previous two regular seasons combined—Salvador might be able to cash in on the open market if he weren’t 36 years old. He could be a solid veteran anchor for a team like his home-province Jets, but staying in a good situation in New Jersey makes more sense.

24. Zenon Konopka

The Rangers got a good look in the playoffs at how good Konopka can be on faceoffs, long a problem in New York. With Brandon Prust apparently headed to greener pastures, Konopka also would be a good candidate to restore toughness to John Tortorella’s lineup.

25. Sheldon Souray

No longer quite the threat on the power play that he was earlier in his career in Montreal, and briefly in Edmonton, Souray could still be beneficial to a contending team as a third-pair defenseman who works on the second power play unit. He’d be an excellent addition to the San Jose Sharks’ defensive depth and already-effective power play.